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Bryan Stow beating suspects face federal weapons charges

Two men charged in state court in connection with the Bryan Stow beating case will each face federal charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, authorities said Tuesday.

Marvin Norwood and Louie Sanchez were arrested and charged by Los Angeles County prosecutors last year with felony assault and mayhem in the March 31, 2011 Dodger Stadium attack on Stow, a San Francisco Giants fan who was wearing his team's jersey at the time.

The U.S. attorney's office added the weapons charges Monday in a 14-page federal indictment. If convicted of the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, both men face up to 10 years in federal prison.

The federal charges were revealed during a pretrial hearing for the defendants, who are accused of attacking the father of two as he was walking through the Dodger Stadium parking lot with two friends after the Dodgers’ opening-day victory over the Giants.

Norwood and Sanchez are accused of repeatedly kicking and punching Stow while he was on the ground, causing severe head trauma.

The attack on Stow, who lives in Santa Cruz and worked as a paramedic before his beating, garnered national attention and placed intense pressure on the LAPD, city officials and the Dodgers to calm fears of violence and lawlessness among fans.

Police initially arrested parolee Giovanni Ramirez for the crime but could not secure a filing after failing to link him to the beating. So they went back to the drawing board, reassigning the case to the Robbery-Homicide Division, re-interviewing witnesses and scouring security video. That led to the arrests of Norwood and Sanchez.

The federal charges stemmed from searches executed at the residences of the defendants before their arrests last year.

Norwood told police that the guns were not his and that he had allowed Sanchez to store them at his residence for about a year. Federal authorities determined that the weapons were in the possession of and available to both defendants.